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Key arguments

Local MP Michael Fabricant says: “This development – the largest of its kind in the West Midlands – is an opportunistic attempt to cash in on the government's plans for an Eco town and would be disastrous for the Curborough and Fradley communities and would spell the end of Lichfield as a close knit community.

I totally oppose it. If successful, this development would destroy Lichfield as we currently know it.

We have neither the roads, schools nor medical facilities to support such a major development and it would do for Lichfield what over development has done for Sutton Coldfield changing it from an elegant borough to a suburb of Birmingham ”.

This document shows that Evans Property Group has plans to double the size of Fradley park from 2M sq ft to 4M so the amount of lorries and housing could indeed spiral if this is the case. If this is the case where will the housing go? On more green land?

Our View

• The development will mean an end to “village life” as we know it; this proposal will fundamentally change the nature of the local area for evermore.
  
• There will be development in an area where the majority of land is green field (i.e. Agricultural land)
  
• The distance at the shortest point between North Lichfield and the development will be only 1000 metres.
  
• At least 5000 homes and a potential population of 10000 would turn Lichfield into another urban sprawl, and studies of other settlements indicate that this would probably only be the start of the development growth.
  
• Continuous building and noise disturbance until 2026!
  
• The national Eco towns programme will impose new settlements on communities by the government taking decision making away from communities, who are best placed to judge what is best for their future
  
• Fradley Park industrial estate, which is mostly warehousing, will not, in our view, provide a sufficient range of jobs for the new settlement.
  
• We believe the houses will mainly be bought by long distance commuters attracted by the presence of the A38, adding to existing road congestion and fundamentally undermining claims for the “sustainability” of what is allegedly an “eco town”.
  
• The level of genuine housing need for both the region and Lichfield district still remains the subject of significant debate; approval of this proposal ahead of the local planning process will dictate the course of the development.
  
• The site adjoins the Fradley Junction canal conservation area and will severely compromise this tranquil oasis.
  
• Thousands more vehicles will be driving around your area, and as the volume increases on the A38, and commuter travel increases, we believe that the strain will increase on other roads, such as the A515.
  
• Drivers will use our villages as “rat runs” – not just Fradley, but Alrewas, Orgreave, Streethay, Curborough, Kings Bromley, Croxall, Whittington and beyond.
• The developers and government promise all sorts of community and retail facilities , but these can only be phased in as houses are built and sold to pay for them; with the current housing market condition, there is a question mark over whether and when these will actually be delivered.
  
• If you don't live in Curborough or Fradley, and think it won't affect you, think again. How do you know you won't be next in line for the governments 3 million home building plans
  
• If they can do it to us, they can do it to YOU!

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